Comprising article illustrating cards and related odor-producing cards

ABSTRACT

A card game including two decks of cards, wherein a card from one deck is to be matched with a card from the other deck. The cards of one deck are illustrated with various articles having different characteristic odors, and the cards of the remaining deck have no identification but are capable of producing an odor which must then be matched with one of the illustrated cards. The odor producing cards have a cellular outer surface which encapsulates many tiny fragrant oil particles, so that scratching of such surface exposes some of the fragrant oil to the atmosphere.

United States Patent Inventor Jeffrey D. Breslow Evanston, Ill.

Appl. No. 70,790

Filed Sept. 9, 1970 Patented Dec. 14, 1971 Assignee Marvin Glass & Associates Chicago, Ill.

COMPRISING ARTICLE ILLUSTRATING CARDS AND RELATED ODOR-PRODUCING CARDS 5 Claims, 4 Drawing Figs.

11.8. CI 273/152.1, 35/69, l61/DIG. 5

Int. Cl A63f l/00 Field of Search 273/ l 52,

152.1; 35/8, 69, 70, 71, 72; l6l/DIG. 5

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,570,l39 3/1971 Ladd et al 35/8 R Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Attorney-James F. Coffee ABSTRACT: A card game including two decks of cards, wherein a card from one deck is to be matched with a card from the other deck. The cards of one deck are illustrated with various articles having different characteristic odors, and the cards of the remaining deck have no identification but are capable of producing an odor which must then be matched with one of the illustrated cards. The odor producing cards have a cellular outer surface which encapsulates many tiny fragrant oil particles, so that scratching of such surface exposes some of the fragrant oil to the atmosphere.

PATENTEU BEE] 41971 BANANA VNVNVQ BY iho ATTO NEY COMPRISING ARTICLE ILLUSTRATING CARDS AND RELATED ODOR-PRODUCING CARDS BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to card games and is particularly directed toward a matching card game involving the use of the olfactory sense.

Matching card games have long been popular with children and particularly with young children who enjoy games with simple rules. Such games have taken many forms, with the simplest probably being played with an ordinary deck of cards wherein the child seeks to acquire a pair of cards of the same value.

It is a primary object of the present invention to provide a card game wherein related cards are matched through use of a sense of smell, with at least one of the cards providing a definite odor. A further object of the invention is to provide a card game including a deck of cards bearing illustrations of articles known to have characteristic odors and a second deck of cards which are identifiable solely by the odor or fragrance of the card, so that an odor card must be matched with an illustrated card in order to score. Another object of the invention is to provide a game of the type referred to above, wherein the second set of cards is formed of several plys and one outer ply comprises a plastic cellular structure containing fragrant oil particles in the cells, so that an odor is produced by moving a sharp object across the card to thereby rupture one or more of the cells. Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of the preferred embodiment.

in the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the two decks of cards during play of the game;

H6. 2 is an enlarged plan view of one of the odor-producing cards;

FIG. 3 is a considerably enlarged schematic cross-sectional view of the card in FIG. 2 to illustrate the cellular structure; and

FIG. 4 is an enlarged plan view of one of the illustrated cards.

In the preferred embodiment of a game there is provided two decks of cards, with one deck including a plurality of illustrated cards I each bearing a pictorial representation of an article which is known to have a characteristic odor. The other deck of cards is identical in number with the first deck and preferably includes cards 12 bearing no illustrations of identifying indicia. The cards 12 of the second deck are adapted to emanate an odor therefrom, with each of such cards having an odor which is directly associated with or characteristic of one of the articles illustrated on a card of the first deck.

Each of the cards 12 of the second deck are preferably laminate (FIG. 3) in form with at least two plies 14 and 16 and at least one ply or outer surface 14 is in the form of a plastic cellular structure with each cell 18 encapsulating fragrant oil particles 20. A suitable card of this type is currently manufactured and sold by the 3-M Company under the trademark MICRO-FRAGRANCE," which utilizes a urea plastic cellular structure for encapsulating the fragrant oils. The backing 16 for the cellular laminate surface 18 is preferably a lightweight paper board, so that the thickness of the two-ply laminate is not substantially thicker than the thickness of an ordinary playing card. With such cards, the fragrance is readily released simply by scratching the surface with a fingernail or any other sharp object, so that one or more cells 18 are broken open to expose the oil 20 to the air and produce an odor. Further, since the cellular structure includes a considerable number of cells per square inch only a slight scratch is required to rupture one or more of the cells and thereby produce the odor. Consequently, the same card may be used many times and still produce an odor each time the card is scratched to rupture other of the cells 18.

in the play of the game, the two decks of cards 10 and 12, respectively, are shuffled separately and the aroma-producing cards are stacked in the center of the table. The other cards, which are illustrated to represent a particular article, such as a fruit, chocolate, a rose, and the like are dealt to the several players in equal number. Each player in turn draws the top card 12 from the deck in the center and scratches the card to determine the particular fragrance of that card. if the odor produced is characteristic of one of the objects illustrated on a card in his hand, the player puts the two cards together to indicate that he has a proper match. If the fragranted card does not match one of the players cards, it is discarded and will be used later when the center stack becomes depleted. Since the cells 18 are extremely small and contain only a droplet of oil 20, the fragrance produced at any time by scratching the card 12 does not linger very long and will be dissipated before any subsequent use of the card. The first player to match all of the cards in his hand with the scented cards is the winner. Obviously variations can be made in the play of the game without departing from the principles of the invention disclosed herein.

What I claim is:

1. Game apparatus comprising a first set of cards each bearing identification of an article having a characteristic odor, and a second set of cards each of which includes a plurality of encapsulated particles of an odor-producing substance so that the odor is released upon rupturing one of the particle coverings, with each of said second set of cards having an odor-producing substance which provides a characteristic odor of an article illustrated on one of said first set of cards.

2. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said second set of cards comprises a laminated structure including a plastic cell structure forming an outer laminate, and fragrant oil particles disposed within the cells of said plastic cell structure.

3. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said plastic cell structure is formed of a urea plastic.

4. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the illustrations on said first set of cards are foods, and the odors producible with said second set of cards are characteristic of the same foods.

5. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said plastic cell structures are readily ruptured by scratching said outer laminate with a sharp object to thereby expose some of the oil particles to the atmosphere.

I! i i i i 

1. Game apparatus comprising a first set of cards each bearing identification of an article having a characteristic odor, and a second set of cards each of which includes a plurality of encapsulated particles of an odor-producing substance so that the odor is released upon rupturing one of the particle coverings, with each of said second set of cards having an odor-producing substance which provides a characteristic odor of an article illustrated on one of said first set of cards.
 2. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 1, wherein each of said second set of cards comprises a laminated structure including a plastic cell structure forming an outer laminate, and fragrant oil particles disposed within the cells of said plastic cell structure.
 3. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said plastic cell structure is formed of a urea plastic.
 4. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein the illustrations on said first set of cards are foods, and the odors producible with said second set of cards are characteristic of the same foods.
 5. Game apparatus as set forth in claim 2, wherein said plastic cell structures are readily ruptured by scratching said outer laminate with a sharp object to thereby expose some of the oil particles to the atmosphere. 